A Salute to Duty and Sacrifice

Thousands Gather for Dedication of Museum Honoring Marine Corps History

Norman Halfpenny heard the first strains of "The Marines' Hymn" and snapped to attention, his 73-year-old body not quite as straight as when he served as a young man in Korea and Vietnam.

He was joined yesterday by thousands like him, hundreds in wheelchairs, their hair grayed by time. Many traveled thousands of miles for this moment, on the 231st anniversary of the Marine Corps, to gather on a grassy promenade near the Quantico Marine Corps Base, to remember and cry and celebrate the opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

"I made sure he got here," said Halfpenny's wife, Paulette, 63, gripping her husband's uniformed knee. The couple donated $4,000 toward the construction of the $90 million facility and traveled from their home in Arizona for the ceremony. They wanted to be among the first to visit the striking museum, designed on a sharp angle reaching skyward to invoke one of history's most famous images -- the flag being raised over Iwo Jima during World War II.

Halfpenny wanted to talk about his years of service, about the combat he saw in Korea at the famed Chosin Reservoir, where Marines valiantly fought the Chinese, but he was halted by his own tears.

"It's the Corps," he said, weeping. "Once a Marine, always a Marine."

Visitors, many in uniform, showed up hours early for the dedication ceremony, waiting eagerly for an address by President Bush, who arrived to thunderous applause. He hailed the museum as the military's most modern, giving visitors an appreciation for what it's like to serve.

"For too long, the only people to have direct experience of the Marine Corps have been the Marines themselves and the enemy who has made the mistake of taking them on," Bush said. "The Marines believe you can't know what you stand for if you don't know where you come from. The history of the Corps is now preserved behind these walls. These walls remind all who visit here that honor, courage and commitment are not just words. They are Corps values for a way of life that puts service before self."

The museum, which opens to the public Monday, is the creation of the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, which raised $60 million for its construction. The Marine Corps provided another $30 million to fill out the museum's interior, which will include more than 1,000 artifacts, 1,800 photographs and personal letters from the battlefront.

The museum is split into separate galleries that focus on many of the major wars, including one gallery called "Global War on Terrorism," which displays photographs, combat art and maps fresh from battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other galleries to be installed later include ones on the Colonial period, the Civil War era and World War I.

The museum is filled with iconic artifacts -- a Grumman F9F-2B Panther, its first widely used jet; a Bell UH-1E Huey, the ubiquitous Vietnam War helicopter; the pair of American flags raised at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

Museum exhibits also include personal artifacts, such as the Medals of Honor awarded Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly, often referred to as "the outstanding Marine of all time," for his heroics during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and the first Haitian campaign in 1915. Also on display is the M40A1 sniper rifle used by Lance Cpl. Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney in Vietnam, where he killed a confirmed 103 enemy soldiers. And there is the overseas cap worn by legendary Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, who fought in World War I.

The museum, in the southeastern end of Prince William County, is expected to boost tourism and economic development in an area that has struggled. It is off Route 1 and will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Fees will be charged for two interactive experiences -- a flight simulator and target practice.